Petrie's new family
by MissCHSparkles
Summary: When Petrie is captured by a flying Sharptooth, he think he's done for. But when he is taken to the Sharptooth's nest, he discovers that all it wants is a hatchling. Can he learn to live with them? Read on to find out. Written by me and Mrs Bumblebee.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note. This was written by me and Mrs Bumblebee, we all everyone likes it._

_Enjoy and please review._

Petrie and his friends were laughing and playing a fun game of tag and Petrie was it. He flew up into the air and dove after each of his friends that came his way until he finally caught Cera by lightly landing on his nose horn.

"You it Cera," Petrie giggled and flew around at their level so he could be chased too.

Cera laughed and started chasing everyone else.

"Can't catch me, nope, nope," Ducky laughed as she ducked under a log and continued running.

"Watch me," teased Cera in a mock fierce voice.

They all laughed at this, unaware of the approaching danger. High above them, a flying Sharptooth was hovering. While the Great Valley was safe from Sharpteeth that walked and swam, they weren't so protected against the flying kind. Hatchlings still needed to be guarded least they be spirited away.

Littlefoot was it after a while and he was chasing spike when he realised a dark shadow pass over them. He stopped and looked up and gasped.

"Sharptooth!" Littlefoot yelled when he saw the flyer diving at them.

The kids screamed and ran to hide.

Unfortunately, the Sharptooth spotted them and swooped down.

They all screamed louder and tried to run faster. At a cry from Littlefoot, they all headed for a large tree stump that had a large hole, making it a good place to hide. But the Sharptooth was coming closer and closer with Ducky lagging behind.

Petrie cried out when he saw she was having trouble. He flew back and nudged her forward until she was close enough to one of the others to climb on and ride. But unfortunately for Petrie he was now lagging behind.

With a screech, the Sharptooth put on an extra burst of speed and suddenly, its claws were wrapping themselves around Petrie.

"Ahhhh, help," he cried as he was yanked out of the air and lifted away.

"Petrie," Ducky cried in helpless horror as their friend was taken away.

The other children stopped and turned and started following, calling for help and shouting for Petrie to be let go.

"Petrie NO!" Littlefoot shouted as the Sharptooth flew over the stone walls surrounding the valley.

"Oh no, no, no," Ducky moaned, Petrie was her best friend, she couldn't stand the thought of him being hurt.

"We have to rescue him," declared Cera to which Littlefoot nodded.

"Come on, we need to get up there," he said, nodding to where the Sharptooth had disappeared.

With a pang, he realised they couldn't send their flyer friend to scout ahead. this put them at a real disadvantage but they weren't going to let that slow them down. So they all took off running after him, determined to get him back.

Petrie yelled, screamed, and cried out as the Sharptooth that had him flew in twists and turns, sharp dives, and quick pull ups. It all was scaring him and making him a little queasy.

"No, please you let Petrie go," he begged the Sharptooth who carried on flying regardless.

"I no taste very good, I'm all skin and bones," Petrie assured his captor.

"Cera always told me I'd be the last one a Sharptooth would ever go for cause I'm just too skinny."

The Sharptooth screeched back at Petrie before taking another sharp turn around a spike pillar and started heading towards a cark cave in the side of a mountain.

The Sharptooth flew inside and then landed inside a very large nest.

"Oof," Petrie said as he was dropped rather unceremoniously into the nest which was covered in dry twigs and leaves.

He looked nervously up at the Sharptooth who was staring down at him with beady eyes. Petrie scrambled up onto his feet and backs away from the Sharptooth, not really noticing he was backing up further into the cave. The Sharptooth followed him but show any signs of attacking him.

"Well, I-I, ahem," Petrie mumbled, not sure what to say or do.

Normally, when confronted with a Sharptooth, he'd be flying away. However, he was trapped in this nest so he wasn't sure what to do. He tried not to stare at the Sharptooth's rather sharp looking teeth.

Petrie felt his back hit the back of the nest and he realised he was trapped. He looked up at the Sharptooth and cried out and curled up into a ball when he saw it leaning down real close to him.

The Sharptooth sniffed Petrie and then let out a wired purring sound.

"Huh?" Petrie said confused. Why wasn't it trying to eat him?

And why did it sound like his beloved mother when she had tended to his younger brothers and sisters?

Suddenly the Sharptooth opened its beak and grabbed Petrie and pulled him closer. Petrie struggled but then stopped when it let him go and laid him down and started...preening and licking him.

"Whu?" Petrie spluttered, this was becoming stranger by the moment.

He couldn't believe it, what was going on? This Sharptooth was acting as though he was its _Hatchling._

The Sharptooth made sure to be careful with Petrie's wings as it licked and cleaned them. It then made Petrie lay on his back so it could clean his front.

"Oh, oh, this is very strange," Petrie mumbled but his instinct was to lie still and let himself be cleaned.

Once the Sharptooth was done it let Petrie sit up. Suddenly another screech was heard from outside the nest. The Sharptooth that brought Petrie here turned and saw another flyer Sharptooth heading right for the cave. Petrie expected the fiery Sharptooth to attack but was surprised to see it let the new flyer in without a fuss.

Petrie ducked, trying to make himself smaller in case this Sharptooth attacked him. But it didn't do anything except greet the other who chirped in return. As they started to groom each other, he suddenly realised they must be mates.

While they were distracted Petrie decided it was a good chance to try and escape. Carefully and quietly he sneaked around the two larger fliers and got ready to fly off.

But before he could take off, he was seized from behind and dumped back into the nest. He looked sheepishly up into the two flyers faces as they glared down sternly at him. With a screech, the first one, settled down beside him and tucked him under its wing. This made it very clear that the little flyer wasn't going away.

Petrie whimpered and trembled in fear as he was held there. The second flyer leaned down and inspected him closely.

"Um, hello," Petrie said, knowing this was a male by the large red crest on its head.

The male then purred and leaned down and nuzzled Petrie. He then started gently nibbling and preening Petrie's wings just like the first one did from before. The first on Petrie suspected being the female since she didn't have any bright colouring like her mate.

Again, Petrie could only lie still as this happened. He couldn't stop himself letting out a sigh of contentment, it felt so good.

The male smiled down at him and then started acting like he was choking and gagging and then suddenly spat up half eaten fish.

"Urgh," Petrie said but the male started nudging the dead fish towards him.

Petrie stared, he wasn't used to eating any kind of meat. A few insects maybe, but never a fish.

But the female leaned down and picked up the fish and gulped it down. Petrie sighed in relief of this but then she leaned down, forced his mouth open with hers and then spat back up the fish now in a mush.

"Gah," he spluttered but his intake of breath meant the fish slid down his throat.

He gagged but couldn't bring it back up so he was left coughing. The pair looked pleased however at the fact he had swallowed it.

Petrie laid there coughing and trying to make himself gag but his stomach didn't seem too upset to make him vomit the food back up. He grumbled, he now had a rather horrible fishy taste in his mouth but he couldn't do anything about it. There were no nice berries to take away the taste. He only hoped he didn't have to eat only more of it.

But sadly luck wasn't on Petrie's side and his mouth as forced open and more fish was put in his mouth. This continued until Petrie's little belly was full and bulging. Petrie whimpered as he tried to moved but his body felt too heave to move because of the added weight in his belly.

He also felt incredibly sleepy as he always did after a big meal. Even if these two left him alone, he doubted he'd be able to fly away, he was much too heavy. Maybe that was why they'd fed him so much.

Whatever the reason, he felt his eyelids grown heavy and he started to yawn widely.

The female stopped pruning the male and turned to Petrie and then leaned closer to him and pulled him under her to keep him warm and safe. He sighed but couldn't help but snuggle close, it felt so good. All he wanted was to have a nice sleep and he did feel so comfy here. The nest felt like the one back home and though he missed his sibling's presence, he still had the feeling of a mother's warmth.

Petrie fell asleep within second and the female and male went to sleep as well.

The next morning Petrie woke to find he was alone. He was surprised about this but relived. Maybe now he could escape.

He knew his friends would likely be looking for him and he didn't want them worrying for longer than they needed to. So he carefully crept to the edge of the nest and peered over.

Not seeing either of the flyers hanging around under him and opened his wings and jumped into the air but he cried out when a huge gust of wind suddenly hit him and sent him spiralling through the air, unable to control himself.

He flapped wildly, trying to control himself but he was still sent spiralling away.

"Ahhh, help," he cried as he fell.

Petrie thought he was going to be crashed into one of the mountain sides when he was suddenly plucked from the air and carried away from any danger he may have been head towards. Petrie looked up and saw it was the male Sharptooth that saved him.

At first he felt relief but then terror as he realised he would probably be in trouble. He trembled in the male Sharptooth's grasp as he was taken back to the nest.

When they reached the nest the male put Petrie down and screeched at him angrily. Petrie trembled and backed away from him. The male hissed and growled at Petrie for a few seconds before he stopped and reached down a wing and pulled Petrie back to him with it. The male held Petrie close to his body with his wing and just sat like that.

Petrie trembled against him. What was going to happen now? Was he going to be punished? Maybe the male was waiting for his mate to get back, it was usually his mother that took care of punishment.

"Oh dear, oh dear," he murmured softly. "Petrie never been in such a mess before."

Suddenly the male leaned down and bit Petrie's beak, not hard enough to really hurt him but just enough to make his beak sting.

"Ouch," Petrie yelped, clutching his poor stinging beak.

The male then gave him a sharp nudge before going back to glaring at him sternly. The warning was clear, Petrie was not allowed to go flying.

Petrie wrapped his wings tightly around himself and looked at the male with scared eyes. Suddenly the female landed in the nest, carrying a large fish with her.

The male gave him another glare but surprisingly, didn't make any sign to the female of Petrie's crime. The female happily greeted both of them before started to tear the fish apart and gulping bits down. The male turned and joined in with the meal. Petrie moved to the back of the nest to nurse his now sore beak.

Like all chastised younglings, he was now feeling very sorry for himself. He wondered if the male was angry because he'd tried to get away or because he'd nearly been smashed against a cliff? Not that it really mattered, he'd still ended up with a sore beak. He curled up, really regretting his actions now.

The female had finished eating and looked over at Petrie and saw he was hiding in the back of the nest. She moved back there to see what was wrong and saw he was hold is beak and could see it was a little red. She reached down and picked Petrie up who squeaked from the sudden move and held him to her chest and comforted him.

Whimpering slightly, he snuggled into her warm scaly skin, needing the comfort. She screeched a question to the male and he gave a small shrug as though he didn't know. She went back to holding him close, nuzzling him gently with her beak.

Petrie nuzzled her back and he even reached up and wrapped his arms around her neck as best he could. She made a purring sound in return and even the male looked pleased at this. She rocked him slightly, offering even more comfort for his poor sore beak.

Petrie looked up at her and smiled as she leaned down and licked his beak, taking away from of the soar.

"Thank you," Petrie mumbled, feeling much better than he had before.

His beak definitely felt as sore any more, just a little twinge now.

The female purred and then started making a hacking sound and spit up fish mush inside her mouth and offer it to Petrie. Petrie didn't feel like eating it but he remembered what had happened the last time he'd refused the meal. So he opened his beak and obediently took the mush and swallowed it down. He gagged but somehow managed it.

Once he got that mouthful down the female sat Petrie back down into the nest and nuzzled him.

He smiled and couldn't help but give her back with a nuzzle of his own. The moment he'd done it, he was shocked but she seemed utterly delighted. She produced a very loud purr before starting to clean him with her beak and long tongue.

The male finished eating and came over and joined in on cleaning Petrie which made him giggle and wiggle around some because they were tickling him some with their beaks and tongues.

"Hee, hee, stop it, Petrie ticklish," the little flyer gasped but they ignored him and carried on.

Pretty soon, he'd forgotten he'd ever had a sore beak at all, or even that he didn't really like fish. This was just so nice.

The female stopped cleaning Petrie and lay down and started cleaning herself. Petrie looked over to her and walked over and started cleaning her too. She purred with pleasure and the male looked at him very approvingly. Petrie felt it was the least he could do so he carried on.

Even though he was only able to clean her wing, she easily managed the rest of herself.

He did his best with the small part he could reach, his little beak very nimble. He even managed to spot a little blood sucking bug and rid her of it. The female sighed as that pesky insect was removed. She leaned down and thanked Petrie for them and then laid back down.

Petrie checked her body for any more bugs but there didn't seem to be any. So he simply snuggled against her, enjoying the warmth. The male came over and leaned down and started to proon and check Petrie over for any bugs or anything as he laid there next to the female.

He actually found a couple that were right between Petrie's shoulder blades where he couldn't reach. He deftly plucked them off before cleaning the area they'd been in. Petrie chirped in gratitude, he hated those bugs.

Petrie lay down and smiled as he enjoyed the cleaning.

Since he spent a lot of time playing with his friends who were all grounders, he tended to pick up a lot of bugs. Most he could deal with but there was always a few he needed help with.

While he lay there Petrie actually started to think it was nice to have a mama and papa.

He'd never known his father, he'd died when he'd been an egg. And his mother had recently died and his siblings had all been adopted by other flyers. Of course, he had his friends, but still, it was nice to have parents all to himself. He now knew how Littlefoot must feel with his grandparents.

He looked up and smiled up at the female and male who were looked down at him with love and happiness in their eyes.

For Sharpteeth, they really weren't so bad. Although he did wonder why they didn't have any eggs of their own? But for the moment, he didn't care, he just snuggled against them.

_Author's note. Another flyer attacks in the next chapter but what is the outcome? Find out next time, until then._


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note. Written by me and Mrs Bumblebee._

_Enjoy and please review._

Suddenly the happy moment was shattered by a loud screech and something flying into the nest. The male and Female screeching angrily and stood up, wings out, and moved to stand in front of Petrie to protect him from danger.

He jumped in terror, and shrank back, remembering he was in the Mysterious Beyond. What if this was another Sharptooth?

"Oh, please don't be," he muttered, not able to see what it was that had interrupted them.

It was larger Sharptooth flyer. It screeched, bit at, and clawed at the two guarding flyers as he tried to get at the hatchling they were protecting. This flyer ate all kinds a meat unlike the once he was facing. These two only eat fish, bugs, and maybe left over scraps if they're hungry enough.

But he was a scavenger who would eat anything he could get his claws on. What's more, he'd kill anything that was small and had no way to fight back. Like poor little Petrie who trembled as he got a glimpse of what was attacking. This flyer had jagged looking teeth, large wings, a large red crest and a dull coloured skin.

The male of the pair charged and knocked the intruder back some and the male moved back into his earlier position. Petrie tried to make himself as small as possible, he knew it was only because of him the Sharptooth was attacking. Maybe if it thought he wasn't there it would leave.

Petrie ran to the back of the nest and started covering himself with leaves and grasses until he couldn't be seen any longer.

The large Sharptooth managed to knock the female away but when he peered into the nest, he couldn't see Petrie. He squawked in anger, where had the little snackling gone? He screeched in anger, thinking the little flyer had somehow escaped.

The male became enraged and attacked the other male, surprising him as he jumped on his back and started clawing and ripping at his back and wings.

Petrie cried out in horror as his adoptive papa was attacked furiously. He had to do something. With a screech, he leapt into the air and attacked the larger males head, trying to scratch at his eyes.

The attacker screeched in pain and shook his head to get the pest off.

But Petrie kept at him, being sure to stay right behind his head so that the attacker couldn't get at him. And the distraction meant Petrie's papa was able to free himself and start defending again.

Papa screeched at the intruder and rammed himself into the larger male, winding him and forcing him closer to the cliff.

Petrie had dodged back, away from the large Sharptooth but he was still screeching at it. His mama had recovered from being previously winded and was also driving it away.

"Go away, go away," Petrie yelled, flapping madly.

Both parenting flyers forced the intruder back and out of their nest. The other flier screeched as he fell but caught a wind gust and flew away. His last angry screech soon died away.

The mated pair gave triumphant cries at this, both very battered and battle scared. Petrie did a few cartwheels, very happy that the nasty Sharptooth was gone.

"Hurray, we did it, we got rid of him," he chirped excitedly as they turned to face him.

His mama screeched in surprise when she saw a very nasty gash on Petrie and moved over to him. She made him land and lay down so she could clean it. Petrie hadn't noticed the gash before now and yelped as she cleaned it. But it wasn't too bad, she and his papa had much worse injuries.

"Petrie okay," he said reassuringly but she carried on regardless.

She held his wings out with his claws, being very careful and licking Petrie's cut clean. Petrie twitched a little as his gash stung but it wasn't that bad. He'd definitly gotten worse before. He was just lucky he hadn't been a lone in the nest when that Sharptooth had attacked or he'd have been in big trouble. This was probably why his papa had been so angry earlier, he could've gotten hurt.

Petrie laid there for a bit and then giggled some when his papa came over and started licking and cleaning him and his mama too.

His papa's tongue tickled a lot more than his mama's and this meant he was soon squirming with laughter.

"Ooh, ooh, that tickles," he cried as his papa carried on.

The female soon stopped this by giving the male a screech telling him none of that while he was injured. His mama then used her beak and very gently tucked Petrie underneath her. Petrie snuggled close to her, enjoying how warm and cosy it was. Unlike other Sharpteeth, her skin felt nice, not at all slimy. His mama settled herself down, wanting to have a good rest after the attack. Her mate settled beside her to recover a bit before going out to hunt.

Petrie and his mama went to sleep after a few minutes. His papa checked them over, making sure they were comfortable and checked outside to see if it was safe to leave before jumping up into the air and headed out hunting.

After a while Petrie woke up before his mama and wiggled out from under her. He smiled when he saw she was still asleep and walked over to the entrance of the nest and looked out.

Since their nest looked out over the Mysterious Beyond, there wasn't much to see apart from sun bleached rocks and a few oozing peaks. It looked very hot and he couldn't make out any water sources. He wondered where his parents caught those fish but then realised that they probably hunted in the Great Valley.

Thinking of the Great Valley made him think of his friends and he sighed sadly. He did miss them.

Petrie hung his head and whimpered when he remember his friends, his brothers and sisters, and his real mama. Petrie looked back up and whimpered. He was stuck between two decisions. Stay here and have a mama and papa or go back home.

While he was thinking he didn't notice the wind pick up before he was caught by it and pulled out of the nest. Petrie gasped and then cried for help as the wind carried him away from the nest.

The female woke and screeched when she saw Petrie being carried off. She jumped up and ran to the entrance and jumped out to chase after him.

Suddenly the wind that was carrying Petrie stopped and sent him plummeting. As he fell his hit a spiny branch growing of the side of a cliff and continued to fall.

The female screeched again and went into a dive, shooting like an arrow after Petrie. He was heading towards a canyon were horrible creatures lurked. He'd be in big trouble if he ended up there.

"Ahhhhh," Petrie yelled as he continued to fall, he wasn't big or strong enough to stop his free fall.

Just as it looked like he would plunge right into that dark abyss, the female caught him in her claws and swooped away. Petrie's heart was beating madly as they soared away and he could have sworn he saw eyes gleaming out of that darkness.

As they flew away from the canyon and flew up into calmer air Petrie tried to get out of the females grip but yelped in pain when he tried to move his right wing. His mama heard his yell and decided to go back to nest. When they landed his mama carried him to the back of the nest and let him go. Once he was safe in the nest Petrie looked at his wing and almost started crying when he saw what was wrong.

His...his wing was split in two. Split from his elbow to the bottom.

His mama looked sorrowfully at him then bent and started to clean it. Petrie yelped in pain before he started crying. His wing, his beautiful wing was mutilated, he'd be lucky if it healed, let alone ever fly again. He felt like he'd rather die at that point than go on, this was the worst thing ever.

His mama made soothing noises, trying to comfort him as he buried his head against her.

He was a flyer who couldn't fly. He was crippled. How was he going to survive? Petrie wept and cried as his mama cleaned off the blood and dirt that got on his wing but none of that mattered. He couldn't fly. Petrie started making pitiful screeches for his loose.

Once she was finished cleaning the wound, his mama drew him into his own wings, holding him tenderly. She made little noises that told Petrie that she was trying to comfort him but he was too upset to care. It was just too terrible to think about.

After a while Petrie's papa came back and this was the way how he had found them. He sat his kill to the side and walked over, thinking Petrie had tried to leave again but when he caught a whiff of blood he became worried.

He screeched a query at his mate and when she explained what had happened, became very concerned. He peered down at Petrie who was still sniffling miserably. He gave his son a little lick on the head, trying to offer his own comfort.

Petrie looked up at his papa and whimpered and then moved over to him and buried his face into his chest. His papa stroked his with a wing claw gently, making the same purring noise as his mate. It was never a good thing when this sort of injury occurred.

Petrie ended up crying himself to sleep but still wept in his sleep. His mama and papa trying as best they could t find a way to help him but they couldn't think of anything. They've heard of flyers going through the same thing and all ended the same. Left behind, became the hunted, and death. They did not what that or their little Petrie.

If only there was a way to fix his wing but they couldn't think of anyway. The tear was just too bad. As Petrie slept his mama left the nest to go gather herbs to put on his wing to help make the bleeding stop and pain away for now.

His papa stayed to soothe Petrie and also to guard against any scavengers who might be attracted by the smell of blood.

Petrie's mama landed in a small clearing on the cliff side that had greens growing on it. She picked some moss and some herbs that she needed and then went to a tree, made a cute in it, and caught the sap that came out her nest to tend to her hatchling, off it on the moss she had. Once she had all she needed she flew back to her nest to tend to her hatchling.

Petrie was half asleep when she got back, worn out by the day's events and his injury. His papa looked up as she landed in the nest, looking hopeful. She came over and he allowed Petrie's little body to rest on the floor of their nest. She took the herbs and laid them on the wound before using the sap to hold them in place.

Very gently, she tugged the torn parts of Petrie's wing and pushed them together using the sap. She then laid the moss on top to protect it.

Petrie woke up from having his wing being messed with. He cried and whimpered in pain as his mama tended to it. The pain in his wing was so great he thought he was going to pass out from it.

His papa nuzzled him, offering him comfort but also making sure he didn't stop his mate. It needed to be done while the wound was fresh otherwise it could be permanently damaged. So he made soothing noises and Petrie slowly began to calm down.

Once Petrie's mama was finished she reached down and picked Petrie up and cradled him to his chest, softly purring and making soothing sounds to him.

"Ooooh," Petrie groaned, his wing was starting to feel numb as the herbs got to work.

He buried his face against her warm body with a sigh. Both Petrie's adoptive parents leaned down and nuzzled him with their beaks.

Petrie curled up, though he couldn't move his wing much. All he wanted to do now was sleep, sleep away the pain. Petrie's mama purred to him and started to rock him back and forth, soothing him to sleep.

Petrie smiled slightly. Despite his pain, it felt so nice to have a mama again. His heart still ached for his real mama ever since she'd died but now he'd found a new one. Not only that, but he also had a papa, something he'd never known before. Petrie fell asleep with a great big smile on his face.

His adoptive parents noticed and the smiled themselves. They were so happy to have finally found a hatchling, they'd been trying so long for one, and they'd almost given up hope. Petrie's mama smiled down at him. At first when she first saw him she thought of him being an easy meal but when she saw what he was she changed her mind right then. She saw her chance of being a finally being a mother.

Her mate had been a little surprised when he first saw Petrie but once his mate's intention became clear, he quickly warmed to the idea. He'd always wanted to raise a little flyer all his own and this was their chance.

The two happy parents laid Petrie down in the nest, making sure he was comfortable before curling up around him to keep him safe and warm as he healed. As they all slept, Petrie's wing slowly started to scab and fuse together, connecting the torn tissue.

_Author's note. Can Petrie's wing heal and what other adventures does he have? Find out in the next chapter, until then._


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note. This was written by me and Mrs Bumblebee._

_Enjoy and please review._

The next Morning Petrie's papa went out to find food while his mama stayed to guard him.

He decided to try something different from fish and so flew into the Great Valley with its many leaf eaters. He headed straight for a large old tree with crumbly bark. Once there, he grabbed onto the trunk with his sharp claws and started digging into the bark. Soon, he'd unearthed some fat, wiggling grubs. With a screech of satisfaction, he plucked them out one by one, until he had a beak full of the wiggling creatures.

He then took off and headed straight back to the nest, intending to go hunting for himself and his mate next. He flew back to the nest and landed inside. He was greeted by his mate and injured hatchling. The male moved closer to them before opening his mouth and releasing the wiggling bugs from their prison.

His mate made a noise of approval and caught one and tossed it into the air. She deftly caught it and swallowed, this pronouncing it good. She then gave Petrie a little nudge wanting him to eat the grubs so he could keep his strength up.

Petrie didn't argue since these were his favourite bugs to eat. He caught one and eat it and continued to eat until his belly was full.

Pleased at how he had eaten them without protest, his mama licked and cleaned him. Seeing that he was too full for the rest, she plucked them up one by one and ate them. She then gave her mate a nuzzle who looked very pleased with his success. With a chirp, he went to the edge of the nest and took off again, to hunt for himself and his mate.

Petrie leaned back and rubbed his belly, very satisfied and happy.

His mama chuckled and nudged his swollen belly, tickling it. He squealed and rolled away.

"You no tickle Petrie," he said sternly but she just nuzzled him.

She started licking and purring at him as she nuzzled his beak against his tiny body.

He chirped happily, enjoying being pampered like this. It had been ages since anyone had looked after him like this, sadly none of his friends could really do this.

The male flew back to the Great Valley and flew over to a large watering hole. He landed in a nearby tree and watched the water until he saw movement in the waters. He flew up and dove for it. He crashed into the water and after a few seconds back up and flew into the air with a fish in his claws.

It struggled in his grip but he curled up and stabbed it with his sharp beak. He did this a second time and the fish stopped flapping and lay limply in his clutches. He flew triumphantly back to the nest.

He was greeted again by his mate but Petrie was fast asleep nestled deep in the nest.

He smiled and dropped the large fish in front of his mate. She smiled at him before tearing into it, ripping great chunks with her teeth and swallowing them. He did they same and they soon demolished the fish so that only a few bones and scales were left.

The female took the left over remains and threw them outside to fall to the ground below. They fell a long way which was good as they didn't want to attract any scavengers. The last one had been bad enough. They went back into the nest and settled down next to Petrie.

Petrie opened his eyes and shifted over so that he was under his mama. He then settled down again and went back to sleep. She smiled and tucked him further under her wing before closing her eyes again. His papa scooted closer to his small family and settled himself next to his mate.

They all slept peacefully, even when a light rain began to fall. There was a distant rumble of thunder but the storm was far away and wouldn't affect them here. The Great Valley wall helped to shelter them from the worst of nature's fury.

Petrie whined as he was nudged awake. He opened his eyes and saw it was morning. He looked up and saw his mama standing next to him, mouth open and offering him a mouth full of mush, probably fish. He opened his mouth and she deposited some mush into his mouth for him to swallow. He did so, finding the taste wasn't so bad and he chirped for more. His mama happily gave him more until his belly was full of fish.

Petrie laid back, smiling happily from a full belly and giggled softly as his mama cleaned him off from any mush that got around his beak and face.

Once his face was clean, she started to check the rest of him. Despite the fact they were high up in these cliffs, bugs could still find their way into the nest and infect them. And since he had a wounded wing, they'd be going for that. Petrie laid there and let his mama check him and then whimpered in pain as she removed some bug from his injured wing, causing some blood to trickle out.

She quickly licked up the blood until his wound stopped bleeding. She then continued checking his wing all over, making sure there were no more. Thankfully, there weren't and she could tend to the rest of him.

He sighed as he settled down and rested as he was tended to and cleaned. It felt so good.

Despite his slightly throbbing wing, he really felt indulged. He hadn't been fed this well or cleaned regularly in so long. He really did love his new mama and papa now. Speaking of which, his papa was nowhere to be seen.

Flying back to the cave Petrie's papa carried a fish back to the cave, still alive and moving.

Petrie shrunk back from it as it was dropped, this was the first live prey his adoptive parents had brought back. But luckily, it was for him as his mama pecked at it happily before tossing it into the air and swallowing it down whole. She then started grooming her mate in thanks for the wonderful meal.

Slowly Petrie pushed himself up onto his feet and slowly and carefully made his way closer to his parents. His papa greeted him with a chirp and Petrie felt emboldened to come closer. He nuzzled the larger flyer and received a nuzzle in return. He chirped happily, wishing he could flap his wings. But he had to keep them as still as possible, otherwise, his injured one wouldn't heal.

His papa purred and made a soft gurgling sound as he nuzzled and greeted Petrie. His mama leaned down and pressed her head against his side.

Petrie chirped happily, rubbing both of them affectingly. He was feeling so good right about now, so he started checking both of them for tiny little bugs that might have escaped their notice.

His mama and papa purred happily and laid down and let Petrie check them over, finding annoying blood suckers and removing them for them. Once he finished and moved under his mama and curled up underneath her, getting warm.

He was ready for another nap, he always felt sleepy after a big feed. But as he slept, his parents had some things to discuss. Normally, at this time of year, they'd move to another nest, to be closer to new feeding grounds and away from other predators. But with Petrie's injured wing, this was going to be difficult.

One was going to have to carrying their hatchling while the other lead and once the one that was carrying got tired the other will take over and carry him while the other can rest a bit.

They decided to wait until Petrie was rested up before they made the journey. In the meantime, the female was going to go and check out their new home, to ensure there were no nasty surprises. There shouldn't be as this nest was set in the inside wall of the Great Valley, rather than the outside.

The female carefully got up off Petrie but before she could wake him the male came over and laid over him, giving his warmth.

She smiled at him, giving him a little nuzzle with her beak before going to the edge of the nest. She clambered out and took off, soaring high above the sun kissed rocks below. She was in her element, nothing could touch her while she was in flight. Those massive Sharpteeth on the ground had no chance of catching her and she sometimes liked to tease them a bit.

But there was no time for fun and games, she had work to do.

The male watched her go until he couldn't see her any more. He turned and looked down at Petrie and purred as he watched the hatchling sleep but then frowned when he looked at his injured wing. The poor youngling was too young to have to go through such a terrible injury.

There was a chance it would heal and he'd be able to fly but it would take time. First the wing had to heal completely and then Petrie had to let it rest and grown strong before he could use it again. This would be a big test, no flyer was used to keeping their wings still, they were always moving. But he prayed that his little son could manage.

Petrie's mama flew for a good ways until she spotted a good sized cave on a cliff side but when she flew down to investigate she saw another pair of fliers have already claimed it so she continued to fly, searching for a good nest spot.

At this time of year, many other pairs had the same idea, this was the hatchling season. And it was much safer to raise them on this side but once they were grown, it was better to be on the other side of the wall. The Leaf Eaters didn't like to many carnivorous flyers around so they always had to move eventually.

Soon Petrie's mama flew over another cliff with a small cave in the side. She flew back and landed and was pleased to find it was free to any interested. She screeched happily and then marked the cliff with her scent so no other would take it before opening her wings and taking back to the sky to tell her mate.

He was dozing lightly when she arrived back quickly awoke at the sound of her flapping wings. She landed and happily told him of the perfect nesting site she'd found. However, if they wanted to keep it, they'd need to move soon before others started to arrive.

Petrie's papa slowly got up and moved over to his mate and listened as she told and described to him where and what the nest looked like. He liked what she said, it was near to several good feeding locations. There was a river, a small wooded area and some tall grass where they'd find fish and insects a plenty.

They looked towards Petrie and saw he was still asleep but was starting to show signs of waking up soon. This was good, they really needed to get going soon. A short while later, Petrie woke up, blinking around at the brighter sunlight.

"Me Petrie have good nap," he said with a large yawn. "Now what me do?"

Petrie's mama and papa came over and started move things around, getting ready to leave.

He looked at them curiously, not knowing what was going on. Until his mama came over to him and started nudging him to his papa who was laying on the nest's floor. Petrie went but to his surprise, was encouraged to climb on top.

Petrie's papa purred to him to encourage him on and waited until her was on his back safely before sitting back up.

Petrie clung with his little claws as his papa stood up fully. He realised they were going somewhere and he would have to hold on tightly. Sure enough, once Petrie was safely on, the two flyers went to the edge of their nest and took off. Petrie clung tightly but loved the feeling of air rushing past him, it felt glorious.

How he had missed this and how he wished he could fly again.

Petrie's mama made sure Petrie wasn't going to slip off his papa before flying ahead to lead them. Petrie's papa followed her, making sure to fly steadily so that his son could hold on better. Thankfully, the air currents were good this day and the flying was good.

They past and flew by other nests and fliers in the sky, a few even coming up close and getting a glimpse at them before returning to their nests. The skies in a way were so much safer, other flyers did not bother them. Those on the ground had to have eyes in the back of their heads to ensure they weren't attacked. But not the flyers, they left each other alone.

After a long flight the female spotted the cliff she had marked and gave a happy screech to her mate, signalling their find. They went into a gentle dive, circling the nest several times before landing gently. Petrie crawled off his papa's back and onto the hard cliff ground. The place needed tidying up, and a new nest would need to be built. Also, they'd need to rid the place of any bugs that were infesting the place before they could settle down.

But his parents made his sit to the side while they worked, not wanting him to get too over worked while the nest was cleaned. He huffed but it was interesting to see them set up a nest. They did do it so well, and had covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

Soon there was a perfect nest in place of the hard cold rock of the cliff. Petrie happily walked over and snuggled into the nest. His parents were very proud of their work but also very tired. They settled into the nest and snuggled down, Petrie between them. After all that, they needed a good sleep in their new home.

Soon all three were fast asleep, snuggled up close to each other, sharing their warmth, and comfort.

_Author's note. In the next chapter, Petrie sees his friends again but what do they think of his new parents? Find out next time, until then._


End file.
